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mi fa male ma che mi fa
sentire viva, per l’innato buonumore, per il sorriso, per l’amore per
l’arte e la natura in tutte le loro forme, ma soprattutto per avermi
concesso l’enorme privilegio di essere tua figlia.HISTORY OF THE DEVON
REX In 1959 a lady by the name of Miss Beryl Cox was aware of a stray
tom cat to be living in a deserted tin mine near Buckfastleigh in Devon.
This tom had an unusual short curly coat. At this time, Miss Cox
happened to take in a straight coated tortoishell & white female stray
who was pregnant. In September 1959 she delivered 4 kittens at the
bottom of Miss Cox's garden, one of which had the same curly coat as she'd
observed in the stray tom. She named the male kitten Kirlee & planned to
keep him as a pet. In 1960, Miss Cox read a newspaper article which
included a photo of a curly coated Cornish Rex (discovered 10 years
previously). The article was for an up & coming cat show & included in
the article was a photo of a curly coated kitten by the name Du-Bu
Lambtex. It went on to say that she was the only curly coated cat in
Britain. Miss Cox wrote to the breeder of the kitten (Agnes Watts)
explaining that she too had a curly coated cat. It was presumed that
Kirlee carried the same gene as that of the Cornish Rex. Mr Brian
Sterling-Webb who had been working on a breeding programme with the
"Rex" cat purchased Kirlee from Miss Cox, feeling that Kirlee could be
used as an outcross. Much to their surprise when mated with several Rex
females all the offspring had straight coats. Repeated attempts to mate
Kirlee to Cornish Rex queens continued to produce straight haired
offspring & it was concluded that Kirlee's genotype was different to
that of the Cornish Rex. The two recessive genes were named: Gene 1 (Cornish
Rex) & Gene 2 (Devon Rex). Work began to establish both the Cornish Rex
& the Devon Rex as unique breeds. Kirlee went to live with a member of
the Cornish Rex group by the name of Mrs P. Hughes. She mated Kirlee to
one of the straight coated females by the name of Broughton Purley
Queen. The litter comprised of three kittens, two were straight coated &
one female (Broughton Golden Rain) was curly coated like her father. And
so the Devon Rex breed began... All Devon Rexes can trace their ancestry
back to Kirlee. Sadly Kirlee was killed in a road accident in 1970.
DEVON REX TEMPERAMENT The Devon rex is an intelligent, mischievous &
active breed of cat. While they are a very busy breed they also thrive
on human companionship & love to be close to their owners. They enjoy
sitting on your lap, snuggling up with you in bed & even riding on your
shoulder. They have been described as a "monkey in cat's clothing".
Devons aren't particularly talkative cats but they do like to chirp.
APPEARANCE OF DEVON REX Pixie like in appearance, the Devon Rex is a
small to medium sized cat. It's body is muscular, with hind legs longer
than the forelegs. It has modified wedge shaped head with large eyes,
broad cheekbones, strong chin & a short muzzle. The ears large & low
set. The coat is short, soft & curly. It contains all three types of
hair guard, awn & down. Whiskers & eyebrows are short & crinkled.
STANDARD OF THE BREED BODY: of medium length and size, muscular and
feeling stronger and heavier than its appearance indicates; chest broad,
strong and rounded in profile; legs long and slim; dainty paws, oval in
shape; long tail, delicate at base and tapering to a slightly rounded
tip. HEAD: short and broad with angular, strong-featured contours;
cheekbones pronounced and set wide; distinctly curved profile; strong
chin and lower jaw with a muzzle break. EARS: strikingly large, and set
very low; wide at the base, slightly rounded tips. EYES: large, oval,
wide set; eye colour to be uniform and harmonizing with coat colour.
COAT: very short, fine, soft and wavy, without guard hairs; whiskers and
eyebrows crinkled. COLOUR VARITIES: any colour and point colour is
accepted.
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